The Los Angeles Lakers appeared imminently close to bringing back Phil Jackson for a third coaching stint with the team. But late Sunday night, the organization agreed to a four-year deal with Mike D’Antoni. Basketball observers everywhere were shocked by the development, and Jackson and his camp were among those surprised that he is not again the coach of the Lakers.

Jackson was "stunned" when the Lakers told him they had chosen D'Antoni, ESPN’s Chris Broussard reports. Jackson, according to Broussard, was ready to accept the job today if negotiations went well.

"I did convey to them that I had the confidence that I could do the job," Jackson said in a statement. "I was awakened at midnight by a call from Mitch (Kupchak). He told me the Lakers signed D’Antoni...felt he was the best coach for the team."

"It could've been much more circumspect and respectful of everybody involved. It seemed slimy to be awoken with this kind of news," Jackson added.

So what happened? What led the Buss family and GM Mitch Kupchack to pull the trigger on D’Antoni and not bring back the man that led them to five NBA titles?

The Lakers, according to the L.A. Times, were taken aback by Jackson’s demands. Other media outlets, however, dispute that report and say that basketball reasons were what led to the decision.

Writes the L.A. Times’ Mike Bresnahan, “Jackson was the overwhelming favorite to return to the Lakers until they heard his informal demands, which included a stake in team ownership, according to a person familiar with the situation.”

"He was asking for the moon," said Bresnahan’s source.

But reports of Jackson’s “exorbitant demands were overblown,” sources from the Lakers and Jackson’s camp both told Broussard.

Jackson and the Lakers hadn’t even yet talked salary, a source told ESPN, "but he knew coaches don't make what he used to make anymore."

The decision apparently came down to on-court matters. Sources told Broussard that the feeling at the top of the organization was that while Jackson's triangle offense would have been a good fit for Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol, new additions Steve Nash and Dwight Howard would not have thrived in the system.

The Orange County Register’s Kevin Ding tweets a similar take: “I'm told Lakers ultimately decided D'Antoni's system would be better fit for Lakers personnel (Dwight/Nash), which was a concern all along.”

“Phil let me know going into the interview (with the Lakers) for me to almost disassociate myself from him, that anything that I said about him or the triangle system would hurt me because of his lack of relationship with Jimmy Buss,” Shaw said then.